GOG.com now features a countdown that will hit zero around 6:00 am EST tomorrow, saying "System found." This is a confirmation of recent rumors that the online store for DRM-free games will soon offer System Shock 2, the highly regarded action/RPG sequel. This is covered by a Q&A on Rock, Paper, Shotgun talking with Guillaume Rambourg of GOG.com about the news, and with Stephen Kick of Night Dive, who explains how this small developer was able to secure the rights to work on re-releasing the game in this manner. There has also been speculation that development would also commence on a new installment in the series, but according to Kick, Night Dive's next project after preparing SS2 for GOG.com will be an original intellectual property.

saluk wrote on Feb 13, 2013, 19:19:Complaining about clunky SS2 controls and then praising SS1 in the next sentance? Come on Creston

It wasn't so much the controls of SS2 that were clunky, as that the integrate parts of it felt a little clunky. Combat felt a little off, melee felt a little off. You could become a hacker (Marine, I believe?) who could "use turrets to take out your enemies!" and I think there's a grand total of like five turrets in the entire game for you to hack. Psionics start off extremely slow, then suddenly jump into uber-god mode and you basically become Death Incarnate. That's more what I was talking about.

The controls is the original System Shock were perhaps a bit clunky (then again, this was a time when "shooters" allowed you to do shit such as lean, kneel, crawl, go prone, etc. AND it was at a time before we did such a thing as mouselook ) though I never really had any issues with them, but the entire experience was much more smooth. Your power level rose gradually, it had a better gradient of weapon and ammo discoveries, the powers/abilities/mods seemed to integrate better. (God, who DIDN'T love that "skate" mod??)

In any case, it's just my opinion, and obviously System Shock 2 is still one of the most awesome games ever made. But compared to the original it always felt a bit like a step back to me.

Creston wrote on Feb 13, 2013, 14:51:It can't read my CD anymore. It's got that weird thing where it looks like moisture seeped into the CD, which makes it unreadable.

/sympathies. Well, now you can play it again!

And nin, the graphics mod you referred to in an earlier post was probably Reborn. It has some glitches (eg the wrench model vanishes) but the overall impact is excellent.

My main gripe with the game is the infinite respawns - wish I could turn them off. I know it adds to the tension but I already finished it more than once and at this point I'm just playing to take in details I missed previously.

You can turn off infinite respawns in the game's user.cfg file with the "no_spawn" command.

BTW would anyone be interested in doing a graphical / engine remake for this?

I can map like a boss with the NS2 spark engine (unknownworlds.com) It seems like it would be a fantastic engine for it.

we could use the original voice recordings and sound effects possibly

_________________________________________________"Money doesn't exist in the 24th century, the acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity." - Jean-Luc Picard

Creston wrote on Feb 13, 2013, 14:51:It can't read my CD anymore. It's got that weird thing where it looks like moisture seeped into the CD, which makes it unreadable.

/sympathies. Well, now you can play it again!

And nin, the graphics mod you referred to in an earlier post was probably Reborn. It has some glitches (eg the wrench model vanishes) but the overall impact is excellent.

My main gripe with the game is the infinite respawns - wish I could turn them off. I know it adds to the tension but I already finished it more than once and at this point I'm just playing to take in details I missed previously.

You can turn off infinite respawns in the game's user.cfg file with the "no_spawn" command.

You can disable weapon degradation as well...never been a fan of that "feature" in games.

Creston wrote on Feb 13, 2013, 14:51:It can't read my CD anymore. It's got that weird thing where it looks like moisture seeped into the CD, which makes it unreadable.

/sympathies. Well, now you can play it again!

And nin, the graphics mod you referred to in an earlier post was probably Reborn. It has some glitches (eg the wrench model vanishes) but the overall impact is excellent.

My main gripe with the game is the infinite respawns - wish I could turn them off. I know it adds to the tension but I already finished it more than once and at this point I'm just playing to take in details I missed previously.

You can turn off infinite respawns in the game's user.cfg file with the "no_spawn" command.

Awesome that GOG are fighting to unearth some of these classics. They are undeniably dated and I'm sure playing would have a hard time matching up to my nostalgia, but damned if I'm not going to give it a try. ; )

By the way, I notice Grim Fandango is one of the most requested games on the GOG site. It happens to be a LucasArts game - I wonder if it's one of the titles currently under negotiation? One of my favorites - a wonderful game indeed.

Even though I am mere months away from 50, I didn't come into the gaming scene until '99. Never played Doom, Wolfenstein 3-D, System Shock, etc. My starting point was Quake II, Unreal and system Shock 2. I tried games later on that were not mouse look and just could not get it. Even had a hard time with GTA III and Vice City while driving.